anyone had or got one of these

[MIKE550/4]

Looking for smallish bike  of the sohc  era

Might not be this one but we will see, what do you guys think ?

side panels missing, tank looks badly damaged ( easy parts to get hold of ?)

what other bikes of this era came in engine 125 , my youngest boy has started to tinker and he actually spotted this one on e bay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250521225414&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123

[mick]

Hi Mike, i dont think you would have much trouble finding parts for that bike, & it looks very original , other bikes with 125 single engines of that era by Honda would be CG and Sl models  , cheers Mick.

[matthewmosse]

I recon parts should be quite widely available for that, in fact Rod Gibson recently did one (or a similar model) up in cmm just before he passed away
It was a sad loss to the motorcycling worldwhen Rod passed away - RIP

[MIKE550/4]

well got outbid in the usual e bay way, , ( with about 3 seconds to go by a few quid )   

if anyone comes across a little project 125 of the era drop me a message and let us know

corbyrocco@yahoo.com or pm

cheers mike budget not great 250-350

[Dave M]

That's a SOHC CB125S and was my first "proper" bike which I got in 1976 and took my test on. This is a later one fitted with Honda's cable operated front disc brake like the CB200.

The engines are pretty good but there are a couple of things to look out for:

There is no oil filter. Instead it has a centrifugal filter on the right hand end of the crank and this needs cleaning regularly however the clutch case needs to come off. It's not a difficult job but nobody ever does it.

There are no camshaft bearings. The cam runs in the head itself so if there's any hint of oil starvation the cam picks up on the bearing surface and the only fix is a replacement head.

The cam chain tensioner is manually adjusted and again tends to get neglected.

I really enjoyed my 125S and it was a great first bike.

I haven't seen one for years and have no idea what parts availability is like now.

[florence]

I had one of these many years ago. unfortunately, being very young, I used to thrash the life out of it and eventually the exhaust valve snapped and wrecked the engine.

I also had several CB125S models.  When they were running they were fine and fun to ride but they all suffer from being a little underpowered.  I rebuilt several of these engines.  They are very easy to work on but they were always worn out when I got hold of them and I would try to get them going on a limited budget.  As Dave says, the camshaft runs straight into the head. The contact breaker points run on the end of the cam and if there is wear it is difficult to time the ignition correctly and consequently they become very prone to overheating.

The slightly later CG125 engine has push-rods and is very much more reliable.

The best 125 I had, by far, was a 1977 CB125 Twin (not the restricted later model) which was SOHC and was very reliable despite my excessive throttle hand.  It would just touch 80 MPH and accelerated quite well for a 125 four stroke as long as you wound it up to 11 000 RPM!  They are great bikes and sometimes come up for sale.  The only downside with them was Honda's awful cable operated front disk brake, but actually when adjusted correctly just about worked well enough.

[matthewmosse]

I currently run a rebel 125 twin honda. Absolutely brilliant little engine, seems to have as mutch grunt as the 250 twins from honda. I love the honda twin 125's and would happlily buy another, it's also better on fuel than the cb500/4 sidecar.

[Yoshi823]

That's a SOHC CB125S and was my first "proper" bike which I got in 1976 and took my test on. This is a later one fitted with Honda's cable operated front disc brake like the CB200.

The engines are pretty good but there are a couple of things to look out for:

There is no oil filter. Instead it has a centrifugal filter on the right hand end of the crank and this needs cleaning regularly however the clutch case needs to come off. It's not a difficult job but nobody ever does it.

There are no camshaft bearings. The cam runs in the head itself so if there's any hint of oil starvation the cam picks up on the bearing surface and the only fix is a replacement head.

The cam chain tensioner is manually adjusted and again tends to get neglected.

I really enjoyed my 125S and it was a great first bike.

I haven't seen one for years and have no idea what parts availability is like now.

This is in fact a CB125J...


The 'S' model had a drum front brake.I have had two in my short 34 years of biking.My first was back in 1975 which was a 1972 in blue with white lines on the tank.The second one was a green one that I bought while I was doing up my CB750F2 which was back in 1981.Good little bikes but too small for my size frame.





This was the CG125...not sure if this engine is retrofittable to other 125 single frames or not though.

[florence]

"This was the CG125...not sure if this engine is retrofittable to other 125 single frames or not though."

I believe it does fit into both 125s and J models and is a little more reliable.

[Dave M]

Bulletproof springs to mind.

[Bryanj]

Had a few CG sieze pistons if timed wrong and seem to remember they were pushrod with both cam followers working off a single lobe

[MIKE550/4]

good stuff

just a matter of finding one now bit thin on the ground

[Yoshi823]

I have one of these in my garage at the moment...






I bought this bike with the intention of renovating it for my daughter to learn on but now that she has passed her car test she has had second thoughts.It is all stripped down for me to make a start on it.I have bought loads of new parts for it,but I have just not had the time to do more than replace the tyres,clean up a load of the chrome bits and to make a short list of the bits that I need.Having found out that rear shocks are available from Dave Silvers for

[Bryanj]

Ah the 125 twin with the duplex cam chain that wears out quicker than the old single row

[Rozabikes Tim]

Had a TL125 trial bike. Basically the same engine. Ran it with road gearing but still undergeared. Thrashed it to within an inch of its life, can't remember ever servicing it! Never let me down. Can't believe what these are fetching on Fleebay now. I miss it!

Had CB125 too as starter bike before this, similar story. Bullet proof.